The present disclosure relates generally to communication radio hardware and software, and more particularly, to the repeater or enhancer used in wireless communication systems.
A repeater or enhancer is a radio apparatus that is used in wireless communication systems to boost or enhance radio signal strength in order to extend the radio coverage. An enhancer typically includes a donor antenna, a service antenna, and an electronic circuit that performs signal reception, amplification, and re-transmission. For the forward link (or down link) communications from a base transceiver station (BTS) to a terminal such as a mobile station, an enhancer receives a signal from the BTS through the donor antenna, enhances and re-transmits the signal to the intended terminals with the service antenna. Similarly for the reverse link (or up link) communications from the terminal to the BTS, the enhancer receives a signal from the terminal through the service antenna, enhances and re-transmits it to the BTS using the donor antenna. As such, the enhancer merely stands in a radio path between the BTS and the terminals, and receives and transmits the radio signals at the same time.
It is understood that typically the transmitted signal level is much higher than the received signal level. Since the enhancer receives and transmits signals at the same time, an effective isolation mechanism is required between the donor and service antennas. Furthermore, if the BTS and terminals employ time division duplex technology (TDD) for both the forward and reverse link communications, the enhancer needs to know the exact timing for the TDD switching in order to implement a mechanism to connect the donor antenna to an input port of the corresponding receiver circuit, and similarly, the service antenna to an output port of the transmitter circuit during the forward link communications. Likewise, the TDD switch timing helps to appropriately connect the service antenna to the input port of the receiver circuit and the donor antenna to the output port of the transmitter circuit during the reverse link communications.
In the conventional art, several methods for improving the isolation mechanism of a enhancer have been proposed. For example, Qi Bi et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,848) discloses a method using a feedback signal whose amplitude and phase are adjusted in response to the amplitude and phase of a sampled input signal when the normal output of the enhancer is turned off for a short period of time so the sampled input is the leakage signal. The information extracted is then used in the normal operation to cancel out the leakage. This method can be classified as an active noise cancellation method and needs sophisticated hardware and software implemented in the enhancer.
In another example, Hideto Oura (U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,369) discloses another method where the transmission and receiver times are allocated at different time slots. This method is classified as a store-then-transmit method. Its drawback is that the enhancer will not be transparent to the BTS and terminals, and the data throughputs between the BTS and terminals are reduced at least by half.
Stefan Kallander et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,080) discloses a method where a high radio frequency used between the BTS and enhancer is first converted at a first converter into a low frequency, which is capable to transmit over cable to a second converter where the low frequency signal is converted into the high radio frequency, which is then transmitted to the terminals. This method requires two converters that locate separately and a transmission media between them.
What is needed is an efficient method for determining the TDD switch timing and an improved method and system that provides more signal isolation between the donor and service antennas to avoid oscillation.